Tour of California to see another side of Silicon Valley

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Riders turn the corner at the start of the Tour of California cycling race in Nevada City, Calif., Monday, May 16, 2011. The first stage of the race was canceled Sunday due to bad weather. and the start of the second stage, was moved from Squaw Valley, Calif., to Nevada City. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

The peloton makes its way up Sierra Road in San Jose Wednesday May 19, 2010 during Stage Four of the Tour of California. (Photo by Patrick Tehan/Mercury News)

Bicyclists make their way up Sierra Road in San Jose Wednesday May 19, 2010 during the SunPower King of the Mountain Ride/Webcor Builders Executive Challenge. The amateur event was held just prior to Stage Four of the Tour of California. (Photo by Patrick Tehan/Mercury News)

The Amgen Tour of California’s dramatic stage finish on Sierra Road on Wednesday may be a prestigious way to cap San Jose’s role as the race’s first-ever mountaintop climax.

But how does a spectacular summit view of Santa Clara Valley help burnish San Jose’s image, or add to the coffers of city businesses counting on a windfall from America’s biggest cycling event?

After all, since the elite race began in 2006, downtown San Jose has hosted either a starting or finishing stage — the only California community that has had a consistent role in the race, which is off to a weather-plagued start this week in the Sierra.

Last year, the city’s Office of Economic Development attributed $2.9 million in direct spending from the race. But this is the first time it has moved away from the city’s core — with its colorful museums, parks, and popular eating and drinking spots — to a more rural part of town.

“It’s a shame it’s not coming through the downtown,” said Chuck Hammers, owner of the Pizza My Heart restaurant chain, whose downtown location racks up an extra $1,000 in sales on race days.

“It was always good for the opportunity for business that day, especially when it ended there. … It’s an important event for California, and it should be in our downtown.”

Yet even with the venue change, meant to offer an exciting European flavor, city officials insist there will be a strong local economic impact.

“We have been doing this event for six years, and I have confidence that people will make their way back to downtown San Jose, spending the night or spending time in our restaurants,” said Kerry Adams Hapner, director of the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

Based on Amgen’s past tour races in San Jose, Adams Hapner said, the city estimates at least 20,000 fans from outside the area will be watching the event somewhere along the San Jose route, part of the 1 million onlookers Anschutz Entertainment Group expects will turn out along different stages statewide.

On Wednesday afternoon, after the fourth stage of the race ends here, the 18 professional cycling teams, their support crews and other tour organizers will head to 710 hotel rooms in San Jose, where they will spend the night before moving to Seaside on Thursday morning for the next stage.

“And that’s just the team and entourage — it doesn’t include the people who are avid cyclists following the tour,” Adams Hapner said.

Team San Jose, the nonprofit group that runs the city’s convention center and downtown theaters, said about 300 more rooms have been reserved in connection with the race.

But because of the number and size of entourage cars and trucks, Adams Hapner said, the majority of hotel rooms are closer to the airport than downtown, because they offer larger parking lots. Still, her office estimates the total amount of direct spending around the event will be at least $3 million, which city officials predict will generate about $150,000 of hotel and sales tax revenue to the city — more than four times the $36,000 that the city is kicking in from its general fund.

City officials say even cash-strapped cities like San Jose realize that an investment in the event can return dividends later on.

Still, playing host to a tour offers a city more than a one-day financial boost, said Raissa de la Rossa, a Santa Rosa economic development specialist who helped organized the tour’s successful downtown finishes the past five years. Santa Rosa isn’t involved in the tour this year for the first time in the event’s six-year history, leaving San Jose as the only community to have a role in every race since 2006.

“San Jose is a business center,” de la Rossa said. “Now it adds a depth to what San Jose has to offer — economic development and long-term strategies that include lifestyle and the creative class that San Jose is rife with. All those high-tech people are cyclists.”

That kind of optimism should boost the spirits of people like Marcello America, co-owner of Peggy Sue’s restaurant in San Pedro Square, who was dismayed when he found out about the course change.

“We thought, ‘Well, that’s another one that bites the dust,'” America said. “Anytime an event is pushed away from the downtown area or moved, it takes its toll on our numbers.”

But Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association, said he hasn’t heard much grumbling from his members.

“People are not shy about letting us know if they have a problem with something,” said Knies, adding that as an event producer himself, “I can see the value of changing it up for the ride and ending on a climb. That’s also a spectacular way to showcase San Jose.”

Not surprisingly, some residents along Sierra Road are pleased that a worldwide audience will see a different side of Silicon Valley.

“A world-class cycling event going past where you live is pretty incredible,” said Mike Hilberman, whose house fronts the racecourse road. “In my opinion, all publicity is good for the city, one way or another.”

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